My 9 year old cocker spaniel boy started vomiting and going off his food just before Christmas. The vet gave him antibiotics and Zantac. We're now trying to get him settled on a new diet as he's no longer eating his Chicken Naturediet that he's eaten for 7 or 8 years now. When the 5 day prescription of Zantac syrup ran out he showed no enthusiasm for food again, although was not vomiting again. Another trip to the vet got us more Zantac syrup which seems to help his appetite, but costs £30 for five days' supply. Usually a mild upset means a few days of Chappie, sometimes mixed with chicken and/or rice. This time he's more picky, even if left hungry. The vet is satisfied he has pancreatitis. It seems we will still need to help him in the short term in terms or Zantac or supplement of sorts. Help might be needed long-term.

Does anyone have suggestions for either how to source Zantac or an equivalent at a reasonable price? Is it a prescription item for animals or can Zantac or equivalent for human consumption be used? If the latter, how do you determine the dosage? Alternatively, what supplements would you recommend? Are the "Pancreatic Enzymes" powders the sort of thing we should be trying?

Grateful for any advice.

Thanks

Jax

Google seems to show that Zantac is a human medicine, not specifically licenced for animals (vets are only allowed to prescribe human medicines if any animal-licenced equivalent has been tried and isn't suitable), and is prescription only.

Our vets recommend tinned Chappie as a suitable food for dogs with pancreatic problems because it's low in fat, and that's what you've got to watch for.

Zantac is a trade name for ranetadine ( human drug) which can be purchased without prescription from pharmacies. Non prescription tabs are lower dose than prescription version of human drug at 75mg. I understand from my vet that in dogs typical dose is 0.5 to 2mg per kilo. My old girl gets occasional gastric upsets and I give her this on an add hoc basis ( with full knowledge of my vet)

Hi Jax, sorry to hear Barney's not too well.  I'll send him Creon if you don't have any!  Give him a wee pat from Salty and me xx

Like klb says, with pancreatitis you need to eliminate fat from the diet as far as possible to give the liver time to recover again.  Choose a low fat food and give small meals of it more frequently.  Some dogs have to stay on that diet forever, others just have a bout of pancreatitis and once recovered are then fine to go back on their regular food again.

Definately low fat food. When my dog was ill with this it took weeks for him to recover fully, and that included blood tests to check his liver a few times. His appetite was bad for ages, the vet suggested cottage cheese (very low fat) and white fish to start with then gradually building up to chicken. He refused food for a long time and it was really worrying - it was then thought that while he was so ill, although hungry, he was feeling quite sick and associated his food bowl with feeling bad. For just a few days we hand fed away from the kitchen and he quickly picked up. He's been on chappie ever since and I daren't risk changing much.

Veterinary research advises that the most success is found if dogs are given pancreatic enzymes on a daily basis once diagnosis is confirmed by a vet.

People are far less likely to have much succes by giving the enzymes periodically.  It is quite some years now since results were published in the veterinary press.  But enzymes need to be given every day for life. 

Having lived with 2 canine sufferers I would 100% emphatically state that the dog owner needs to be extra vigilant.  My last bitch was not allowed fat in any shape or form for the last 6 years of her life.  She spent a week in hospital on a drip to totally rest the pancreas (no food or water allowed.)

Because I was so strict about her food she lived until just before her 17th birthday.  Most people I give this advice to don't keep it up.  Because the dog seems to be feeling better - they stop!   :-(

She was fed Hill's ID tinned food and I bought the kibble in small quatities so that I could give her kibble as a treat when the other dogs got their chew sticks.  She also, for a change, had tinned Chappie, as she loved the stink!

I bought direct from hyperdrug and found that the tub lasts for many, many months.  I am sure it would last over 6 months for a cocker, so a hell of a lot cheaper than £30 every 5 days!!

http://www.hyperdrug.co.uk/Pancreatic-Enzyme-for-dogs-cats-250g/productinfo/PANCREXVET/

Our dog had it after finishing a course of ABs.  Very yellow soft poops, too.  I think the ABs really took it out on the pancreas and it needed to recover afterwards.

We checked out the levels of everything in the various Nature Diet foods and found that the Fish variety was the lowest in fat, so we put her on ND Fish.

We also used low fat foods for training treats, usually just pure lean meat like fish or chicken.

After a few weeks, she was fine to go back on her regular food.  This was a year ago now and she has been fine since then.  She had her liver function assessed by a blood test in March this year and it is all functioning normally. 

So for some dogs it can be an acute attack and everything can get back to normal again, for others it is a chronic condition which will need care for life.

Hi Mothy, I'm currently a guest at WGH. Husband is looking after Barney :)

Thanks to everyone for their advice. We're going to try the pancreatic enzymes coupled with a change to a lower fat food so that we tackle the issue at source. At the moment he's eating Chappie and chicken breast and we're going to try a different food at the weekend. Back to smiley doggie for the moment so hopefully enzymes, etc will help keep it that way.

Jax

If he's eating the Chappie and seems happy then I think I'd leave him on it. It's low fat anyway and seems to suit him.